Working in France?

[kmprucha]

Does anyone know if it is possible for a USA educated PT to work in France. I would like to move to the Antibes area -- where there are several English speaking people (I'm not exactly fluent in French but am willing to learn!!)...I was just wondering if anyone knew what the opportunity to liscense and practice in France is?

[oscar]

I looked into this myself last year and it may be possible, but you will need to speak to the french board directly- they will take EU trained physio's but as you were trained in the USA it might be slightly more difficult for you

There is plenty of work down there, both private clinic and hospital based, but I suggest you work on your french as you do need to be pretty fluent....!

[kmprucha]

Thanks for that information...that is exactly the type of thing I need to know. Did you specifically look at working in the Antibes area? What was it that made you not further pursue the idea? Do you happen to know what their testing requirements are?....and I'd be curious if the format would only be in French. Hmmm....

[oscar]

Basically I was still a student when I made my enquiries (and the jobs market in the UK for new grads is terrible so was looking for other options), but I managed to get a permanent job in the UK as soon as I graduated so ended up staying put! The realisation that my french was no way good enough also put me off! The thought of having to assess a patient with french terminology "is the pain shooting, burning etc...." worried me slightly as did the the thought of communicating with french medical professionals!

I managed to speak to a physio in the south of france who came across from the UK some years ago and she advised me that your french must be really good to do the job. One option would be for you to enrol in a french school when you move over and have intensive lessons for 3 months or so before you try working- all the paperwork for registration is in french and you are likley to have to sit exams. For EU trained physio's it's easier as all they need is the details of your training and any post-qualification work, I think you also have to go in and have a chat so they can check your french is good enough, I don't know what the process is for non-EU trained physio's! As far as I can tell the salary for hospital based work is much lower than private clinics, the tax system is also different depending where you work. Antibes is a gorgeous area (I have family there) so it's definitley worth persuing!